Miaow to all your dedicated summer blog fans nice to have you with us! As we are finding at the sanctuary many of you have gone on your holidays and as such kitten rehoming has gone quiet. There are a couple of gems at the sanctuary right now that would be such a shame to miss if your looking for a purrrfect moggie friend but more of them later.... What with the heat and humidity we wonder at the sanctuary if nutty season has started. The number of enquiries for kittens to order is staggering. Surprisingly enough we dont have a kitten choosing service available where we bring a selection of kittens to your home for the human folk to choose the one they want! The stress that could cause to our gorgeous felines is immense. A little bit of effort is required to indicate to us that it is not just a passing whim to get a cat as they can live for a very long time. We always say it is a big responsibility and if you cant make it then dont. Our oldest resident who is in the care of a volunteer is Hamish (going to be 30 years old this Christmas - def. one for the newspapers!) The number of requests for specific colours right down to the shade of fur is amazing i.e a ginger female with a bit of white, a blue grey etc. A rescue centre such as Chestnut Sanctuary has no control whatever so ever over what kittens and cats come in as they are all either homeless or collected by RSPCA inspectors as mistreated or cruelty cases, we dont breed to order. Question? What do you call something with 4 paws, whiskers, and a miaow? - a little angel (aka cat!) whether black, white, tabby or ginger. Pet colour is immaterial go for the one that looks at you with adoring eyes, is lively but loves a cuddle. Talking of which my little gems of the week are no 1. A tiny black kitten who has a hint of golden brown tones in the sunlight. I wont say exactly where he is in the sanctuary as if your keen you will meet him no doubt but he is the most snuggly friendly little chap I have ever met. He loves to cuddle right close to your neck and the purr like a telephone is to die for! 2. Summer - a white and tabby girl brought in as a cruelty case by the RSPCA as the owner refused to treat her eye infection and has subsequently resulted in her losing the sight in one eye. A silky soft girl with plenty of love and affection to give! (needs to live indoors as unlikely to see road traffic in time). Finally I thought I would share the fun of a Monday at the sanctuary, suffice to say it is a very busy day as anyone who needs to rehome their cat is advised to call Monday morning to see if we have homed enough over the weekend to generate space to bring in more. What is most impressive is the way in which people expect their problems to be sorted immediately with no thought whatsoever to the animal. If the reasons for rehoming e.g. emigrating tomorrow was even slightly believable then this country would be seriously devoid of humans!! The stories are staggering so if anyone should want to volunteer avoid Mondays like the plague by about 9.10am (we open at 9am) the number of calls from people threatening to dump their cats is overwhelming. We always do the best we can but often have to ask people to wait and work with us until we can accommodate a space.
P.S the peanut M & M twins aka Millie and Murdoch are doing great - they have bags of energy and are extremely mischievous as we found out yesterday when Murdoch discovered you can jump into the bath but you cant always get back out again! I need eyes in the back of my head!
P.P.S it is not just cats that take up my time - me and 5 other cars stopped for a sheep in Epping who had obviously lost his way. It was great for my faith in humanity to see the number of people who stopped to help this animal avoid serious injury and no it had nothing to do with me lying in the middle of the road forcing cars to stop!! - they stopped of their own accord and managed to get the woolly fellow back to safety. Thank you for a drop of sunshine after a Monday at the sanctuary! TTFN x x (picture inset caption "Black cats are GREAT!"

Pictures to bring a tear to your eye!! (a huge THANK YOU to all our fabulous 12 foster carers you are tremedous - what would we do without you? love and hugs from all x x x )

So.... I guess you are all wondering what the little mischief makers have been up to this week eh?! well I am pleased to report the progress of our two little kittens Millie and Murdoch is good. They have been in their new home 1 week today. It is wonderful to be able to see them develop and grow right before your eyes. Which i hasten to add they should be doing as they are eating for England! They currently manage to wolf down 1 tin of kitten loaf each per day. Last week when they arrive they were only on 1/2 a tin so that just shows how quickly their appetites increase. Also interesting to note here how huge a pregnant cat's and nursing mother's appetite is. They can get through huge amounts of food when feeding their young. It is very sad to see a cat physically drained from the demands of keeping up with their babies eating requirements hence the all important need to neuter your cat! Anyway back to the terrible twosome. They mastered the use of their litter tray almost immediately and have fortunately not had any accidents as yet. Although the anti-bacterial wipes are on hand should they be needed! They are still in the one room which is important with small kittens as they can get down very small holes and get stuck. The sanctuary volunteers have been contacted on numerous occasions for advice on retrieving kittens from under kitchen floor boards and even from inside a grand piano! So to avoid the immense stress that this can cause it is best to isolate young kittens in one room for at least the first few weeks in a new home to allow them to build their confidence and for their own safety. Millie is the more timid kitten at first but dont let that deceive you as given the opportunity she will bundle in with her brother. This is important part of bonding and is wonderful to watch as two kittens literally become one ball of fur as they play and attack each other! Murdoch loves any toy in particular those attached to a piece of string and has already entangled himself on numerous occasions - always important to remove toys with string attached from the kittens room if they are going to be left unattended for any length of time. We have very fortunately had only one occasion where this advice was not adhered to and whilst we give a lot.....................!! of advice at the sanctuary it is always for the best intentions.
P.S Many congratulations to Bandit for snaring himself a fabulous new home. You look great in your pictures!

Apologies for the lack of blogger, the blogger went to Bath! (no not my annual wash!) but the beautiful city of Bath for a lovely long weekend. I managed to see the rather large versions of the cats at the sanctuary at Longleat Safari Park lots of lion cubs and tiggers with enormous scratch posts! Obviously I missed the sanctuary follk lots and my gorgeous Pickles who apparently was a bit of a wuss! Anyway to update you all it appears everyone in the UK have gone on holiday yet the kittens keep on coming!! Lots and lots of pregnant mums dumped at the sanctuary with no where to go. The worst case this week was the mum and five kittens found in a suitcase oh dear not the best of news. But like everything in life you have to look at the positive and see that they are now safe in the sanctuary of Chestnuts with lots of lots of loving volunteers to smoother them with TLC. I would particularly like to introduce you to the two gorgeous kittens in the photograph attached as we will be following their progress over the coming weeks and months to let you all know what goes on when you let yourselves take on two devils.... opps I mean cute gorgeous not michievious kittens! Their names are Millie and Murdoch currently 10 weeks old ahhh to be 10 weeks old again!! We will see them as they go through all their care from vaccinations to micro-chipping and neutering. Keep looking on the blog to see what they are getting up to! (P.S rumour has it their new owners are somewhat spoiling them already with I believe, Evian water to drink obviously tap water just isnt their thing!!). TTFN for now! x

Alison Sweeney and resident Biggles the cat accepting the fundraising cheque from Sue Brady our triatholon triumpher! Biggles was very grateful to receive the monies and a cuddle was a bonus! Many thanks Sue your support of Chestnut Cat Sanctuary is very gratefully received!!We look forward to seeing the pictures of you in action!

Doesnt Jackie look great?! Our dedicated Sanctuary Manager with a gorgeous (not to be at the sanctuary for very long!) 12 week old kitten. He has the most adorable personality and likes to be cuddled all day long! He would make a purrrrfect companion for someone at home during day who is looking for some serious company! so if you work from home or are in and out during the day dont hang around as Mr Handsome wont be either!